Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between trauma severity and the degree of cord injury in patients with ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). Four-hundred-one patients were classified into Group A (OPLL(+)), Group B (spinal stenosis (+) and OPLL(-)), and Group C (OPLL (-) and spinal stenosis(-)). Trauma severity and neurological injury severity were compared according to presence of OPLL and spinal stenosis. OPLL was associated with a higher incidence of neurological injury with statistical significance (p = 0.002), whereas spinal stenosis did not (p = 0.408). With Group B+C (no OPLL group) in M (minimal) trauma group as baseline, Group A in M trauma group showed about 5 times, and Group A in S (severe) trauma group showed about 16 times as many cord injury. Patients with OPLL more frequently sustained spinal cord injury from minimal trauma.